A number of modular sports goals are known in the art, for use in games such as soccer, hockey, field hockey, lacrosse and water polo. Typically, such goals comprise a plurality of elongate tubes joined together, either permanently or temporarily (e.g. for the duration of a game) by connectors to form the shape of a goal. Typically the tubes and connectors are made of plastic, aluminum or light steel.
One problem associated with modular sports goals is that a forceful impact, such as from a soccer ball or other sports projectile moving at high velocity, can cause the connectors to break. The impact of a player can also break the connectors, and lead to injury to the player as well.
One example of a modular sports goal directed to addressing this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,928 to Stewart, which teaches a portable soccer practice goal net which uses specialized struts to assist in absorbing impact forces. While these struts can address the problem of breakage, they increase the complexity of the goal structure considerably. This increased complexity makes it more difficult for younger players to assemble the goal from a disassembled form, and also makes it more difficult to transport the disassembled goal, since there are a greater number of parts. Moreover, the struts must have sufficient thickness to provide the required breakage resistance, thereby increasing the weight of the goal system with further adverse effects on transportability.